Sustainability

Support Your Sustainable Campus! Help Us Reach Carbon Neutrality by 2016

Bob Cole Sustainability, Sustainable Campus

Welcome to the 2015-2016 academic year at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies!

imgresThe Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey signed the President’s Climate Commitment to be a carbon neutral campus by 2016. Leading the charge to reach the our the 2016 carbon neutrality goal is the Institute’s Sustainability Council whose mission is to promote and support sustainability practices on campus.

You can help us achieve the MIIS 2016 carbon neutrality goal by performing one of the following sustainable activities:

1.     Turn off the Lights & Projectors (watch student video) when you leave the classroom! Volunteer to be your class student energy monitor!Screen Shot 2015-08-28 at 2.39.38 PM

2.     Compost at MIIS – No Stress! (watch student video) Bring your approved food waste to our orange compost buckets in Our Green Thumb Community Garden.

3.     Reduce your waste footprint – BYO LUNCH from home to Holland Center Kitchen Area and use the reusable containers.

4.     Recycle – Paper, plastic, and aluminum can be recycled in blue containers around campus. Batteries and light bulbs can be recycled on campus – here’s a map of battery recycling locations.

5.     Reduce your water use on campus – We are in a drought! Please minimize your water use when you wash your hands, wash dishes, water the garden, etc. FREE home water efficiency devices (shower timers, shower heads, leak detector, garden hose spray nozzle, etc.) are available at the reception desk in the Segal Building, 425 Van Buren.

6.     Bike and/or walk to campus  – we live in beautiful sunny Monterey! Enjoy the outdoors! Check out local trails and public transportation routes here.

7.     Save Paper! Make sure you print double-sided @ MIIS! Ask the library staff for assistance.

Screen Shot 2015-08-28 at 2.46.33 PMFor more information on how you can support MIIS 2016 Carbon Neutrality goal or to share an idea with the Council please contact sustainablecampus@miis.edu 

or get involved in one of our fun sustainable campus groups – http://www.miis.edu/about/sustainability/involvement

 

Warm Regards,
The Sustainability Council at MIIS

Student Council E-Waste Fundraiser

Megan Joyce MIIS Update, Student Council, Sustainability

E WASTEThe MIIS Student Council presents an E-Waste Fundraiser for Sparks Micro Grants! Help your program(s) raise the most E-waste in February & Win a prize for your program! Stay tuned for more information from your program reps!

Every year, an estimated 135,000,000 cell phones are discarded in the US alone and only 13% are collected for reuse or recycle! Read some more facts about cell phone waste.

  • The production of cell phones are dependent on one or more rare metals such as platinum, palladium,rhodium and even gold!
  • The mining of metals for cell phones and other electronics is the #1 cause of toxic pollution in the U.S.!
  • Over 100 million cell phones are stockpiled in U.S. households creating 50,000 tons of potentially
  • hazardous waste.
  • On average Americans replace their cell phones every 12-18 months.
  • Cell phones contain toxic substances including Arsenic, Antimony, Beryllium, Cadmium, Copper, Lead, Nickel and Zinc which leach into soil and groundwater and form toxins during incineration which have been associated cancer and a range of reproductive, neurological and developmental disorders.
  • The cadmium from a single cell phone is capable of polluting 158,200 gallons of water. (That’s 2.4 million
  • 8-ounce sodas!)
  • Recycle Today!

WHAT’S SPARK 
Spark MicroGrants helps poverty-stricken communities in east Africa find and implement solutions to their most urgent problems. Spark provides unconditional grants to communities to build whatever project they decide they need the most (schools, health clinics, water wells, etc). Unlike most other organizations, Spark does not tell communities how to use the funds, but instead gives community members the trainings and skills to do it themselves. Since 2010, Spark has worked with 71 communities and impacted 31,000 individuals.

WHY PHONES
Spark facilitators work in some the most hard to reach communities in east Africa and spend hours each week “off the grid”. As you can imagine, that doesn’t make it easy to measure and record data. And it involves a lot of time consuming paper forms. The most efficient way to stay connected to our remote communities is by equipping our facilitators with better technology. With the money we receive from your old phone, we can purchase a smart phone for a Spark facilitator. In short, your old phone = no more paper forms and the facilitators have more time to spend with their communities.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

  1. Participate in our phone drive!
  2. Donate your phones – we know you have them sitting in one of those junk drawers. Don’t let it go to waste and donate it!
  3. Spread the word – amplify your impact and share your drive or donation with friends on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr using @sparkmg and #DonateIt

Get started here: http://secondwaverecycling.com/spark-microgrants. Questions? Email britney@sparkmicrogrants.org